Blank feeder for a box making machine



Dec. 30, 1958 o. E. COTE BLANK FEEDER FOR A BOX MAKING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 12, 1954 Q MR m ME .3.

Dec. 30, 1958 o. E. COTE BLANK FEEDER FOR A BOX MAKING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1954 0. E. co'rE BLANK FEEDER FOR A BOXMAKING MACHINE Dec, 30, 195

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Dec. 30, 1958 o. E. COTE BLANK FEEDER FOR A BOX MAKING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 12, 1954 by conventional feeding mechanisms.

' located at the actual feeding position.

United States Patent i BLANK FEEDER FOR A BOX MAKING MACHINE Omer E.Cote, Providence, R. 1., assignor to United States Automatic BoxMachinery Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsApplication February 12, 1954, Serial No. 409,822

4 Claims. (Cl. 271-44) ,a single box blank, the pre-cut blanks arrangedin a pile are customarily placed in the machine in such relation to thefeeding mechanism that the blank on the bottom of the pile will bepicked up and slid out from under the pile by feeding mechanism to bedelivered to the box forming machinery.

In the blank feeding mechanism of the prior art, considerable diflicultyhas been experienced in feeding a single blank ofi the bottom of thepile of blanks. The individual blanks, being made of relatively thincardboard stock, do not lend themselves to being gripped positively Thedifficulty is accentuated by the weight of the pile of blanks whichpress down on the bottom blank to such an extent that there isconsiderablefriction present which makes it difficult to slide thebottom blank out from under the pile. Various expedients have been usedto minimize this friction, such as mechanism which agitates the pile ofblanks or the provision of an air blast which is intended to initiallyseparate the piled blanks so that the bottom blank may be moved out withmore ease. V

However, the problem has not heretofore been satisfactorily solved andaccordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a method andapparatus for feeding box blanks, the apparatus being of suchconstruction that only the bottom blank will be picked up by the feedingmechanism and delivered into the box forming machine.

By this invention this is accomplished by first placing the pile ofblanks in the magazine of the machine in a position in which each blankwill be moved to slightly staggered position with respect to theadjacent blank,

' i. e.', the blanks in their first position'will be fanned slightly,thus causing initial freeing of each blank with respect to its neighbor;and thereafter taking from the bottom of the pile a limited quantity ofblanks which are then By limiting the number of blanks in the pile atthe feeding position to a small number, the pressure on the bottom blankwill be so small that the feeding mechanism will easily start the bottomblank on its way. 7

Another object of the invention is the provision of mechanism which willpositively preclude the feeding of two blanks simultaneously. Thusshould the bottom clearly understood as the description proceeds withthe aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

2,856,641 Pa tented Dec. 30, 15258 ICC feeding mechanism of the presentinvention is indicated at that section marked A;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1 with the feeding mechanism againindicated at A;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the feeding mechanism as seen inFig. 2 with certain parts being broken away for clarity;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged front fragmentary view showing a limited number ofthe box blanks resting on fingers of the feed chains comprising a partof the present invention with the lower several blanks having just losttheir supporting fingers and being about to fall to the lower pile.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a box making machinecomprising (1) a blank feeding stage A, (-2) a glue applying stage B,and (3) a box forming stage C. This invention is concerned primarily wihthe blank feeding stage and the successive stages are shown in thedrawings only for the purpose of facilitating comprehension of thepresent invention.

Therefore, while reference hereinafter will be made generally tosections B and C of the machine, it will be understood that the boxfeeding mechanism of the present invention may be used with any type ofbox making machine and the invention is not to be limited in any way byits having been shown in conjunction with a specific type of glueapplying mechanism and box forming mechanism.

The mechanisms of all three stages are driven by a single prime mover,e. g'. motor, the timing relationship between the operation of themechanisms 'of all three stages being such that a series of box blanksare caused to be fed from the feeding mechanism on to a conveyor 7machine.

The machine includes a motor 8 which is connected by belts 10 to apulley 12 which through conventional power transmission elements (notshown) drives chain drive gear 14 carrying drive chain 16.' Drive chain16 and sprocket gear 18 cooperate to turn hollow drive shaft 19.

Drive shaft 19 carries gear elements 22. Drive shaft 19 drives throughclutch 50, the shaft '20 having thereon gear 24. Gear 22 drives chain 26which through suitable gear elements (not shown) drives shafts 28, 30,and 32, bearing feed rollers 34, 36 and 38 respectively. (See Fig. 3.)Gear 24 on the drive shaft 20 meshes with gear 42 on shaft 44. Thelatter shaft carries large feed roller 46. All of these shafts aremounted by suitable journals to the vertical side frame members of themachine.

A clutch mechanism is shown generally at 50, the clutch being'provid'edto permit decoupling hollow shaft 19 from shaft 2i) when desired, as forexample when a Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a box machine in which the blankfails to appear at the box forming stage on 1 schedule, due to jamming,or some other mishap. The

clutch may be actuated by a suitable switch means,vthe means foractuating the clutch forming no part of the invention and accordinglynot being shown.

Rotation of the foregoing shafts .istimed with the An expanded view ofthe feeding mechanism of this invention is shown in Fig.3, Figs. 4 and 5also contributing to a better understanding of the present invention;feeding mechanism comprises a hopper or magazine form-ed by fourupwardly "extending angle iron corner posts 62, 64, 66, and 68, securedto the frame of the machine, the two lower posts being movable towardan'd'away from the two upper posts by means of a conyentional rack 70and pinion 72 operated by crank spindle 74. Bar 75 is connected topinion 72 and posts 66, 68, andrcausesthese posts to move with thepinions when crank spindle '74 is turned. By this arrangement the hopperor magazine is adapted to receive box blanks of various sizes, and thecorner posts may be so spaced that an stack of blanks received by thehopper will rest against the posts on-an angle as shown in Fig. 3. Sides76 and .78 terminate at their lower ends at was shown in Figs.

A guide surface 82 secured to the frameby a transverse bar is positionedintermediate the upper posts with its upper edge located below the endsof sides 76, not the upper posts, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Securedtothe lower posts of the magazine are idler sprockets 86 and curvedbearing surfaces8'8. Rid ng on the idler sprockets and the bearingsurfaces are feed chains 90 driven by sprockets 92. The latter sprocketsare mounted on shaft 94 driven by motor 96. The motor is mounted bybracket 98 to lower post 66. Feed chains '90 have lugs or fingers 102which engage the lower edges of the box blanks of stack 124 in themagazine. The upper edges of these box blanks rest against sides 76 and78 of the upper posts, as shown in Fig. 3. Motor 96 drives feed chains90 in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 3. At the bottom of themagazine are a plurality of guide bars 104 secured by guide bar sup-.ports 106 which are mounted by fixed shafts 108 extending through framemembers 2 and '4 of the machine. Guide bars 104 and guide bar supports106 are adjustably'positioned by set screws 110 and 112 respectively.

Large feed roll 46 is positioned at the forward end of the guide barsand is provided with a rubber segment 116 for engaging the box blanks.Overlying this feed roll is a stop 118 which is vertically adjustable bymechanism 120. This stop is normally spaced from the rubber segment onfeed roll 46 a distance equal to the thickness 'of one box blank. Thuswhen the bottommost blank of lower stack 122 is picked up by the rubbersegment, the box blank next aboxe it is prevented by the stop means frommoving forward with the bottommost blank.

v in order "to maintain the proper number of blanks at 'the feedingsection, sensing mechanism is provided for controlling the operation'ofmotor 96. This mechamsmwill now be described. As seen in Figs. 3,4, "and5; switch- 126 is rnounted odthe-Ou'tside of upper corner a post 62.switch is actuated by-a lever l-2 8'piv'oted 06130 to swing towar'dsnd-away-rrom the switch. A

rectangular slot 1-32 is pr'ovided in corner "post 62"t0 z'perinit thelower curved 'portion 134 of lever '128 to extend inwardly into the line'of the path of'the edges of the box blan'ks comprising lower stack 122. This switch is connected by suitable electrical means (not-show'n) tomot0r 96 When 'lev'er 128 is ur'g'ed by the blanks in "bottom stack 122towardswitch button 136, pushing the button inwardly, switch 126 opensand motor 96 is stopped. When the lever .is permitted to move away [fromthe' switch to the dotted line position shown in Fig.

4, switch 126 closes, motor '96 is energized, and feed chains '90 movein the direction' indicated by the arrow In Fig. 3.

Optional. devices for facilitating feeding of theboxdogs-operateto'provide a -slight forward stagger to the blanks in bottomstack 122 preparatory to their being grasped by the rubber segment oflarge feed roller 46. Cooperating with these fixed dogs is a thirdmovable dog 146 which also has teeth in its forward surface, 'Ihts thirddog is fixedly secured to a fiat bar 152 disposed parallel to butbeneath the center guide bar 104 as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Bar 152is slidably carried by suitable bearing brackets (not shown) secured tothe machine. A lever and gear mechanism designated generally as 156 inFigs. 2 and 3, is cam actuated at 156 to move bar 152 and dog 146 in areciprocating manner forward and backward. This motion causes movabledog 146 to agitate the box blanks lying in bottom stack 122. Thisagitation assures that the bottommost blank will be freely associatedwith the other blanks in the bottom stack and that the blanks will bedelivered by feed roll 46 to the other feed rolls 34, 36, and 38 in asteady sequence.

Operation'of this feeding device is as follows: Motor 8 started, causingthe various mechanisms of stations A, B, and C to operate. Since noblanks are initially in the magazine, switch 126 is in a closed positionand motor 96 is operating to impart motion to feed chalns in thedirection shown in Fig. 3. Box blanks are then placed in the magazine,the lower edges of these blanks resting on fingers 102 of feed chains 90in the manner shown in Fig. 6. Due to the spacing between the upper andlower corner posts of the magazine, the blanks in the magazine rest atan inclined position relative to guide bars'104, as shown by upper stack124. Feed chains 90 carry the box blanks downwardly until the upperedges of the blanks reach lower edges 80 of sides 76 and 78 of upperposts 62 and 64 respectively. There- 'upon, as the fingers 102 movefurther downward, they fall from their inclined position to a more orless hori-- zontal position and stack 122 begins to build up.Simultaneously feed roll 46 grasps the bottommost box blank in stack 122and urges it forward beneath stop 118 to feed roll 34. This box blank isthen propelled forward between secondary feed rolls 32 and 36 whichposition it upon traveling conveyor chain 52. This chain then carriesthe box blank forward to the gluing stationof the machine.

When the bottom stack has grown sutficiently to displace lever 128 outof slot 132 in corner post 62, the lever pushes against button 136 ofswitch 126 and opens the switch. This stops motor-96 and feed chains 90.When the lower stack has been depleted by a sufficient amount, lever-128 again moves through slot 132 out of contact with switch button 136,causing .the latter to close switch 126. Motor 96 is again energized andadditional box blanks arefed from upper stack 124 to the lower stack122.

As is obvious from the foregoing description, motor "96 :isautomatically actuated to .assure that .the size of -'st'a'ck 122 willbe maintained constant b'etweenupper and lower :limi'tsdetermined by theposition anddimensions 6f lever-L128 so that the number 'of box blanksat any 11 one time"will never be great enough to cause undue pressure'onthe bottommost blank, and hence the rubber s'egment of'the feedroll'will-easily slide the bottom blank out of the lower stack to startit 'on.its way through the a machine.

Obviously many modifications: .and variations of :the p esent inventionare 'possiblein the :ilght of the above wteachings. It is therefore tobe understood thatwithin =thescope of the appended claims the inventionmaybe practiced otherwise 'than as specifically described.

1. Apparatus for feeding cardboard box .blanks to a box forming-machine,:saidapparatus having a blank storage section and a ablankieedingsection, said .blank storage section comprising .frontaandmear elementsadjustable with respect .to each .other, .said front element comprisinga rearwardly inclined face against which the front upper ends of saidblanks rest, said inclined face extending upwardly a distance to havethe upper part thereof vertically over said rear element and terminatingatv its lower end close to the position of the front end of thelowermost blank, said rear element comprising a chain arranged to movedownwardly in parallelism with said inclined face and having thereon asuccession of spaced fingers, said chain and each finger adapted tosupport the rear lower ends of a plurahtyof blanks with their frontupper ends resting against said face, means for automatically causingdownward movement of said chain and retraction of the lowermost fingerwhereby said lowermost blanks will be freed of support by sa d face andsaid lowermost finger, thereby to fall to said blank feeding section,said blank feeding section being comprised of blank supporting elementsset at an upward slope substantially less than the slope of the blanksin said storage section, and sensing means for causing actuation of saidchain moving means whenever the number of blanks in said feeding sectionfalls below a predetermined number and for stopping said chain movingmeans when sufficient blanks have fallen from said storage section tosaid feeding section to increase the number of blanks to a predeterminednumber, and feeding mechanism for removing the blanks in a continuoussuccesslon from the bottom of the pile in said feeding section.

2. Apparatus for feeding cardboard box blanks to a box forming machineand in which the saidblanks are of relatively thin stock and subject toappreciable bending under their own Weight when supported horizontallyat their ends only, said apparatus having a blank storage Se tion and ablank feeding section, said blank storage section comprising front andrear elements adjustable with respect to each other whereby the blanksplaced therein may be positioned in a sufiiciently vertical position topreclude undue bending of the bottom blank, said front elementcomprising a rearwardly inclined face against which the front upper endsof said blanks rest, said inclined face extending upwardly a distance tohave the upper part thereof vertically over said rear element andterminating at its lower end close to the position of the front end ofthe lowermost blank, said rear elemen'ts comprising a chain arranged tomove downwardly in parallelism with said inclined face and havingthereon a succession of spaced fingers, said chain and each fingeradapted to support the rear lower ends of a plurality of b s with theirfront upper ends resting against said face and in as vertical positionas necessary to prevent bending and falling of the bottom blank from itssupported position between said face'and said chain and finger, meansfor automatically causing downward movement of said chain and retractionof the lowermost finger whereby said lowermost blanks will be freed ofsupport by said face and said lowermost finger thereby to fall to saidblank feeding section, said blank feeding section being comprised ofblank supporting elements set at an upward slope substantially less thanthe slope of the blanks in said storage section, and sensing means forcausing actuation of said chain moving means whenever the number ofblanks in said feeding section falls below a predetermined number andfor stopping said chain moving means when sufficient blanks have fallenfrom said storage section to said feeding section to increase the numberof blanks to a predetermined number, and feeding mechanism for removingthe blanks in a continuous succession from the bottom of the pile insaid feeding section.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said chain actuating meanscomprising a motor, said sensing means comprising a lever spring urgedagainst the side of the blanks in said feeding section, a switchnormally open and closed by movement of said lever in the direction ofsaid blanks as the pile of blanks diminishes thereby to start saidmotor, said lever adapted to be engaged and pushed away from said blanksby blanks falling from said storage section thereby to open and holdopen said switch when sufiicient blanks have fallen to restore said pileof blanks to a predetermined number.

4. Apparatus for feeding cardboard box blanks to a box forming machine,said apparatus having a blank,

storage section and a blank feeding section, said blank storage sectioncomprising front and rear elements adjustable with respect to eachother, said front element comprising a rearwardly inclined face againstwhich the front upper ends of said blanks rest, said rear elementcomprising a chain arranged to move downwardly in parallelism with saidinclined face and having thereon a succession of spaced fingers, saidchain and each finger adapted to support the rear lower ends of aplurality of blanks with their front upper ends resting against-saidface, means for automatically causing downward movement of said chainand retraction of the lowermost finger whereby said lowermost blankswill be freed of support by said face and said lowermost finger therebyto fall to said blank feeding section, said blank feeding section beingcomprised of blank supporting elements set at an upward slopesubstantially less than the slope of the blanks in said storage section,and sensing means for causing actuation of said chain moving meanswhenever the number of blanks in said feeding section falls below apredetermined number and for stopping said chain moving means whensufiicient blanks have fallen from said storage section to said feedingsection to increase the number of blanks to a predetermined number, andfeeding mechanism for removing the blanks in a continuous successionfrom the bottom of the pile in said feeding section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS866,160 Peterson Sept. 17, 1907 1,256,975 Bigelow et a1. Feb. 19, 19181,739,153 Laxo Dec. 10, 1929 2,042,719 Lindgren June 2, 1936 2,554,579Lauffer May 29, 1951

